Victor Perez walks to a news conference with his family in Fresno, Calif., yesterday. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian)

(Newser)
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An quick-witted California driver put himself in harm's way to help an 8-year-old girl escape from her kidnapper. Victor Perez gave chase in his pickup when he spotted a vehicle identified in a statewide Amber Alert after the girl had been snatched from outside her Fresno home the previous evening. The unemployed construction worker, not knowing whether the driver was armed, tried to cut the vehicle off several times. The driver pushed the girl out and fled after Perez forced him to stop, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Perez, who had spotted the driver trying to hold the girl's head down during the chase, stayed with her and gave police dispatchers a partial license plate number. Gang member Gregorio Gonzalez, 24, was arrested soon after. He will be charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment and sexual assault. "I thank God that he put me here to help out that little girl," said Perez. "I got kids out there and nephews and nieces, and I wouldn't want nobody to do this to my family."